SheWolf of Shevat
by Alchemist Experiment
Summary: She was a fierce, proud, vicious creature who's hands were as bloodstained as his. He had to have her. CitanYui, spoilers


_Disclaimer: Not mine, not making any money off of this._

**She-Wolf of Shevat**

The pearlescent walls of the Shevatian tower were almost calming. In the mornings and afternoons, a myriad of soft colors reflected in the soft white stone. Warm hues infused the room, rainbows danced across the white floors, and the golden accents on bed and desk gleamed.

But it meant nothing to Hyuga. He lay on his back in bed, staring at the warmly hued ceiling. His expression was set, eyes narrowed and lips set into a thin line. He refused to look around, refused to take his eyes off a single point on the ceiling above him.

His body felt numb. Days ago - or perhaps weeks, it was difficult to tell time - there had been pain in his ribs, his abdomen, his legs. There had been nothing but a haze of blood and rage and the clashing of swords. There had been the smell of burning buildings and that fierce, fiery eyed woman who's sword had cut him down again and again….

"I have food for you."

Hyuga didn't take his eyes from the ceiling. He knew what he'd see, that hateful woman in her robes with a tray of some Shevatian slop. And she'd speak to him, as she always did. Such a fierce and stubborn woman - were she Solarian, Hyuga imagined he would find her quite enticing.

"Starve if you like." The clatter of a tray being set beside the bed. The twenty two year old Guardian clenched his teeth tightly, his hands balling into fists. Even her presence was enough to rouse him to near blinding anger.

"I die on your watch, it's on your head," he growled.

"Hardly. If you die by your own foolish pride there's none to blame but you. Are all you Solarian dogs so full of hauteur?"

"Are all Shevatian bitches so full of cowardice?"

"Tsk tsk, Guardian Ricdeau. I could kill you for your insolence." She was sitting, Hyuga could tell from where her voice came from.

"You should have killed me on the battlefield!" But the bitch had refrained from the killing blow and humiliated him further by taking him into custody, tending his wounds….

"I'm not like _you_. We aren't animals here who slaughter our enemies like dogs in the street."

"You _are_ dogs!"

In a flash, the woman was on top of him, straddling him, the tip of her blade at his throat. Her eyes were full of fire once more, her shoulders heaving and her lips as thin as his own. She truly was a fearsome creature.

"So says the monster who has sent thousands of innocents to their death!"

"There are no innocents!"

The tip of the blade pressed into the hollow of his throat and Hyuga tipped back his head and bared his teeth. It would be easy for her to do it, and he had no fear of death. She was a worthy adversary to fall to.

"Do it," he urged. But the Uzuki woman remained where she was, straddling his hips and holding her blade to his throat. He could feel the heat of her body through the covers between them. Her thighs were hard; lengths of steel beneath her robes.

"I will not become what I despise." The sword was tossed aside, clattering on the smooth floor. A strand of her pale brown hair had fallen into her face, resting between her eyes. Her burning, brilliant eyes were fixed on his. She was proud, as proud as him. Her will matched and mirrored his own.

"You're a foolish woman, Yui Uzuki. I will kill you when my wounds have healed."

"And you are a foolish man, Hyuga Ricdeau. You can't kill me - my sword is better than yours. I would only strike you down again."

Hyuga couldn't snap in retort. She had bested him in combat. He, the most skilled of warriors in Solaris, appointed to the Emperor's right hand at the unheard of age of twenty… and she had defeated him. This Shevatian she-wolf had met and beaten each stroke of his sword, drew his blood as though he were some slave foot soldier. Her strength and skill were unheard of. 

What in god's name was she?

That piece of hair was still between Yui's smoldering dark eyes. Without thinking, Hyuga reached up and brushed it away. She laughed, tilting back her head. Her laugh was like the room, rich and warm and tinted with gold. Such a fierce, strong, blood-stained woman, a deadly weapon in a maiden's gown…

He had to possess her. Shevatian or not, there was no other woman like her in the sky or on the surface.

"Have my harsh words won your heart?" Yui smiled, thin lips curving slowly. "Or do you think me some coy maiden, to be charmed by your pretty face?"

"A woman who's as tainted as you? You're no maiden." The skin of her face was soft, as soft a Solarian courtesan. Her face was sharp and pointed, her features were chiseled. There was nothing soft about her.

"Tainted." Yui scoffed. "So says the beast of Solaris."

"One beast knows another. Don't play the innocent. Your hands are stained with the blood of my countrymen."

"And yours with my country's children."

"There are always casualties of war." What did Hyuga care for some Shevatian brats? Death came for all, be it sooner or later. There was no progress without bloodshed, no expansion without death. It was a necessity. Solarians understood that. They were not a weak country, they were not ruled by emotions.

A pity Yui was so flawed. She would be his perfect match, if not for that. But nothing made by nature was ever perfect. 

"Soldiers die in wars." Yui sat back, tucking her short hair behind her ears. Her skin was so pale. "How do you sleep at night?"

"With the knowledge that I serve my Emperor with all my heart and soul." And he would, until Khar overthrew him. And then they would remake Solaris in their image, and even slaves would have a chance - had they talents that would serve the Empire. Jesse and Sigurd had been fools. Didn't they realize that what Khar did, he did for them? Though perhaps Khar's methods left something to be desired. And his jealousy….

"You serve a fool." Yui's hand was in his hair, carding through it gently. There was a sadness in her voice and in her burning eyes. As though she pitied him. What did he want with her pity? He was exactly where he wanted to be. "I've heard of you. A brilliant doctor and surgeon, an engineer years beyond the greatest engineers of our time, the most skilled swordsman in Solaris, a weapons maker of the highest caliber… how can a man so intelligent be so blind?"

"You mistake blindness for priorities," Hyuga pointed out. He was not a blind man. He knew what was done, what he did. He oversaw each project personally. "The end justifies the mean. You cannot begin to understand the goal I work for."

"A goal higher than that which your Emperor strives for?"

"Higher than he could ever imagine." Hyuga laughed then, a bitter thing. Cain could never comprehend more than his own selfish designs. "Do not think me just another one of his dogs."

"You're a Solarian dog, I've no doubt of that. But perhaps there's something of a stray in you. Were you born to Shevat, I think I would be very fond of you, Hyuga Ricdeau. You're passionate and brilliant and nearly my equal with a blade."

"And you are the only creature that has ever bested me. Though you refused to strike the final blow."

"It would be a pity to kill a man as pretty as you." Yui tossed her head, teasing. Or perhaps flirting? Warrior she may be, but a young woman as well. And her tongue was as sharp as her blade.

He wanted her.

Hyuga pushed himself up, his limp body struggling to sit. He reached for her, gripping the back of her head and pulling her to him. She didn't struggle. Their lips met and he tasted her mouth and he swore it tasted of blood. This woman who had spilled his blood on the steps of Shevat leaned into his arms, into his kiss. Her body was hard against his, only her small breasts offering even a hint of softness. So different from soft Solarian women, pampered creatures all of them. Not Yui. There was nothing soft about Yui Uzuki.

And she smelled like leather and sword oil.

"Let go of me, Solarian."

"I have no intention of doing so." Hyuga held her tightly, his hand gripping her short hair. He wouldn't release her until he had made her his own, conquered her in the way only a man could conquer a woman. He kissed her once more, crushing her mouth against his own. Her hands were trapped against his chest, resting on the bandages she had wrapped about his bloodied wounds. He deepened the kiss, his tongue driving into her mouth, tasting her.

Yui broke the kiss, twisting her head with a quick snap. She leaned down, her teeth sinking into the flesh of his shoulder. He barely felt it. He buried his face in her neck, breathing in her sweet scent, his body heavy and numb. He could feel the muscles of her back, tight and hard beneath her robes. He could picture her denuded, tight and coiled like some wild beast.

He wanted her. He wanted her more than he had wanted anything in his life. Her breeding didn't matter - wasn't that the Solaris he wanted to build? Where lamb, slave or brute laborer was judged on skill and merit rather than birth? He was just a slave boy, one of over a dozen who had been lucky. And Yui… he could give her a life she'd never dreamed of.

Hyuga kissed her neck fiercely, clinging to her, sought her narrow lips once more. She made his blood boil.

Then she was gone, slipping off the bed and out of his arms and leaving him falling against the bed gasping for breath.

"You bitch," he growled, eyes narrowing in anger. Did she think to toy with him? 

"Calm yourself. Your flesh is too weak."

"My flesh is willing!"

Yui laughed, straightening her robes. Her figure was lean, flat, hard. "Those sedatives that are healing your wounds rob you of your will. You cannot rise from the bed or rise to take a woman to it. You are but half a man for now." She was smiling, a devilish grin that touched her blazing eyes.

Hyuga snarled, his head resting like a rock on the pillows. He knew she was speaking the truth. He had held her in his arms, tasted her skin, and his desire remained banked. She was walking across the room, her narrow hips swaying with every step.

"Eat your food, Hyuga. And when you're well, woo me again." She looked over her shoulder, pausing in the door. "Perhaps then I won't bite."

And then she was gone, leaving the pearlescent room with the rainbow hues and the gold accents empty once more.


End file.
